


The Kids Aren't Alright

by lovelaika



Category: THE iDOLM@STER
Genre: F/F, Friendship, Gen, Skatepark AU, also suspiciously american high school AU?, riina is lame, skater lingo, there are no real ships rn but that doesn't mean there won't be
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-02-17
Updated: 2018-02-24
Packaged: 2019-03-20 06:33:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,525
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13711917
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelaika/pseuds/lovelaika
Summary: “This is Riina,” she put her hands up, “no relation. She’s a F.O.N.—Friend of Natsuki—and she wants to learn to shred from us certified pro-fessionals.”It's 2002, and everybody who's anybody is skateboarding. Riina wants to get in on the scene, and luckily she has a connection to a group that's willing to teach her.





	1. It's Tricky

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you're not familiar with some of the skate terminology used in here's a quick primer:  
> deck - the part of the board you stand on  
> trucks - the metal parts under the deck that connect it to the wheels  
> ollie - you jump up and the board comes with you  
> kickflip - you flip the board  
> heelflip - you flip the board the other way  
> shove-it - you rotate the board 180 degrees under your feet  
> line - basically a series of tricks (jump off a ramp do a trick and then grind a rail)  
> goofy - basically riding lefty, your right foot is in front

“Are you sure this is fine?” She sat hanging off the back of the seat of Rina’s scooter, hugging her driver with all the strength she could muster.

“Of course! I got passengers on the back of this baby all the time! If Takumin can keep her big ol’ booty on, you can too!”

She could barely hear Rina over the wind whipping at her ears. They were practically yelling to be heard.

“No, I mean tagging along with you to the skatepark! I don’t want to get in the way of your friends and, to be honest, I don’t think I’m really ready for any ramps!”

“It’s cool, it’s cool! We just had a couple ‘a other newbies not that long ago it was chill! They were younger than you too! And you can’t be _that_ lame!”

“Uh...”

* * *

 

It started back a few months ago, Christmas of last year when her parents bought her a PlayStation after a considerable amount of begging. Not quite enough begging for the newer and shinier PS2, but any video games at all were considered a success to Riina. She sought one game in particular, _Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 2_ , after she saw a demo video for the game in a shop window.

It was so...  _cool_. So edgy, transgressive even. It was the rock and roll of sports, and she was all about rock. Not that she knew a lot about rock, the only bands she could name were basically the ones on the radio. To her, rock was a mindset. You can’t analyze rock, it's a state of being. You just know when something is rock, and when it isn’t.

Skateboarding was rock. Definitely. For sure. She played the game, beat all the challenges (or at least as many as she could), memorized the soundtrack, and watched all of the demo tapes. After a few months, it was time to go to the next level.

She was a little bit obsessed, and it came out when she talked to Natsuki about it.

“Skateboarding, huh? Not really my speed, I prefer bikes and the open road. I can respect it, though.”

“Have you ever tried it, Natsukichi?”

“Aha, Rina made me try it once. Pretty sure I fell on my a- ...my butt.”

Riina’s eyes sparkled with revelation. “Rina skateboards!?”

“Think so, yeah. I’ve seen her with a couple of kids down at the park on the hill.”

“Could she teach me!?”

“Probably? I’ll ask her when we hang next if you want.”

Later that week, Riina heard the telltale chime of AOL Instant Messenger.

> **HeartbeatRocker84** : Rina said it’s cool. Meet her after school in the parking lot on Monday.
> 
> **Sp4rklingGirl** : Thanks Natsukichi!!!

On Sunday, she took the money from her guitar fund and put it towards a new skateboard. One with a sweet sunburst Gibson Les Paul on the bottom.

* * *

 

Rina turned into the park and parked next to the curb right next to the entrance. Next to the sign, she looked positively tiny in her high-waisted shorts and Ciao Kuma T-shirt. Riina didn’t see any other bikes or cars in the lot.

“We’re probably the last ones here ‘cuz we stopped for soda and all.” Riina glanced down at the plastic bag of drinks she was holding. In her other hand was the new board she’d just bought. She followed her mentor to the front entrance. Once she was there, she could see the tiny gray park.

To her left was a small building, like a concrete shack. A blonde woman stood behind the counter, above her a sign that said “SKATEBOARD RENTAL + helmets”. The woman, probably an employee, looked bored out of her mind.

But to her right was where the real action was. A collection of ramps, rails, and lips all constructed out of plain cement. Almost in the center was a 9 step staircase with a rectangular metal rail running down the middle. It was all surrounded by walls following the grade of the hillside so kids wouldn’t launch themselves out of the park and into the dry shrubbery outside.

Everything bathed in the slightly hazy sunlight, with only minimal shade provided by three wispy trees just past the wall opposite the entrance. In the shade, Riina could see four people gathered in a lazy circle.

Rina interrupted her thoughts when she started walking toward the gathering.

“That’s my little group of misfits over there. We’re kinda the only ones who come here, except for a few little kids on the weekends.”

“Who’s the woman in the building over there?”

“Oh that’s Shin. She smokes,” Rina said as if that somehow explained everything.

As they approached the group, they perked up as they noticed a new girl tagging along with Rina.

“Poyooooooo!” Rina greeted.

“Yo,” said one with a pitch black jacket.

“Sup!” said another, blonde, girl.

They were all staring at her, with the same question in their minds.

“This is Riina,” she put her hands up, “no relation. She’s a F.O.N.—Friend of Natsuki—and she wants to learn to shred from us certified pro-fessionals.” Rina then glanced at her to say something.

“H-Hi...” She put down the drinks to give a weak wave. She gripped the deck of her board a little tighter.

Rina nudged her with her elbow. Now slightly panicked, she continued, “I’m Riina Tada, junior at Mishiro High School! I like rock music and I met Natsuki when she almost ran me over with her motorcycle before school one time...?”

“Okay, great introduction. This,” she starts with the dark-haired girl farthest to Rina’s left, “is Rin. She’s the cool one and if you’re wondering, the uniform is from her Catholic school.”

Rin was lanky and intense looking. She stood with one foot resting on her board, head curiously cocked to the side. Long, black hair almost hid her bright blue-green eyes. Lower, she wore a slightly disheveled shirt and tie under a dark blue—nearly black—plain jacket. Curiously, she also had a skirt. Can you skateboard in a skirt? That seems...  _revealing_. Especially one that seemed to be rolled up sinfully high. The only piece of her outfit that wasn’t standard uniform fare was her shoes. High-tops didn’t accurately describe these shoes. They ran all the way up to her knees, laces and all. They were more like boots than sneakers.

Rin silently nodded in response. Riina timidly nodded back.

Rina pointed to the next girl, sitting on the low wall, with one leg over the other and board on her lap. “That’s Asuka, she’s a freshy and a goth nerd too.” Asuka rolled her eyes.

“Don’t you roll your eyes at me, young lady.”

Goth seemed like a pretty apt description of Asuka. From the neck down, she was entirely in shades of black. A black tight-fitting jacket with dark gray highlights. Black skinny jeans that ended just above her ankles. Black low-tops with black trim and black laces. She could almost hide away in the shade, if not for her unnaturally orange hair and pink-purple extensions. Or maybe they weren’t extensions and she dyed them. Either way, she reminded Riina of a raver she’d seen on the news once.

“Heya. You skate often? I don’t think I’ve seen you here before, or at school either.”

“No, I kinda blend in. And there’s a lot of people at our school. And we’re also in different grades.” If Riina had seen her, she would definitely remember.

Rina chimed back in, “Next to her is Mirei, they’re basically a package deal. She puts the punk in spunky if you ask _moi_.”

“Sup! Yeah, Asuka and I are both freshmen, been buds for a long time too.”

If Asuka’s look was unique, Mirei’s was downright shocking. She had purple hair with red bangs spilling out from a neon pink hoodie with cat ears. The hoodie looked far too long for her small body, stretching all the way down to her thighs and meeting black leggings. She had also poked holes in the ends of the sleeves for her fingers.

What Riina couldn’t get away from, though, was the eyepatch bearing a large pink heart over her left eye. Every time she tried to focus on something else in the garish ensemble, she had to glance back at the eyepatch. It demanded attention.

Mire quirked an eyebrow. “I got something on my face?”

“Uh, no. Sorry. I uh-”

Rina interrupted again, “And finally, my homegirl Yui! Up high!”

Yui reached over and gave her five, then turned to Riina expectantly. She unconfidently gave it up high, then down low, and finally knuckles.

Yui’s outfit seemed to be saying “this is the absolute least I could wear without breaking the school dress code”. Her white Thrasher tank was cut low enough for a _tasteful_ amount of cleavage to be visible. Her jean short shorts were not just torn denim shorts, but torn denim shorts with a faded American flag printed on them. She also had long white tube socks jetting out of her expensive looking white Nikes. Every piece of the ensemble was framed by wild blonde hair, curling every-which-way, and just barely contained by a crooked white and gold cap.

“Before anything, we have _got_ to work on your high five discipline, girl. Oh yeah, and I’m a junior too!”

“Yui’s our resident rich bitch.”

“It sounds bad when you say it like that, but you’re not wrong.”

Rina then pointed at herself and gasped, “And finally me! I’m sure Nat’s told you a million stories about her BFF, but you should know that 1. I love lame 80s crap, 2. Yes i wear heels because I’m very short, and 3. Regretfully I am taken so you can’t have any of this.”

Yui crossed her arms and pouted, “Just because you're the only one with a hot girlfriend doesn’t mean you need to bring it up at every opportunity.”

“But what if I want to?”

Before Yui could respond, they heard the sound of urethane wheels hitting cement. Rin had started cruising around the park in search of a line to practice. She settled on going down a small quarter pipe and tricking off of the pyramid.

“Woah!” It was so different seeing someone skating in person instead of a video game. Even something simple, like a kickflip, looked so much cooler.

Rina crept into the bottom of her vision. “Pretty sick, huh? Rin’s all serious bizness most of the time with this stuff.”

“Uh huh.”

“You wanna get started with your training, or you gonna scope her a little more?”

“No, let’s get started!”

* * *

 

Rin had been attempting to perfect her line a few times now. Rina and Riina had walked over to a flat area of the park where they could start out slow. Yui had acquired a boombox seemingly from the blonde lady, Shin, at the shop and had it playing a selection of hip-hop songs Riina wasn’t too familiar with. Mirei and Asuka remained in the shade, cracking open their Cokes and chatting just out of earshot.

“Alright, young padawan, show your master what you know.”

“Right, what I know...” Riina put her board down on the ground. She took her left foot and planted it on the tail of the board, then her right across the front screws.

“What I know...” She stood there, knees bent for a few seconds, building confidence. She lifted her right foot off to push off the ground...

And promptly fell backward, launching her board into the low wall several feet away from her. Her rear hit the ground hard, but she managed to avoid smacking her head into the pavement, at the expense of her elbows.

Yui yelled from across the park, “Yowch!”

“Ow...” Riina slowly rolled over and stood up to face her senior.

Concern filled her eyes, “We may have to start slower.”

* * *

 

Riina now stood on the grass outside the skatepark proper. She could see Yui was working the bowl, going back and forth doing short grinds and occasionally getting enough speed to ollie out. Rina had gotten the helmet she wore on her scooter.

“Put this on.”

“Do I have to? No one else here does.”

“No one else here is gonna crack their melon open going under five miles an hour.”

“Okay.”

“So you ever actually ridden this bad boy?” She pointed at the board now immobile in the grass.

“...No. Only in a video game.”

“Aight, so we’re going to square zero then. Stand on your board.” Riina put her left foot on the back and her right on the front screws.

Rina looked at her quizzically. “Actually get off. And turn around.”

“Um, okay.” She turned her back to Rina. “So what is this suppose-”

Mid-sentence, Rina shoved her. Hard enough that almost fell over. Wow, that girl was stronger than she looked.

She whipped her head around. “What was that for!?”

“Look, you caught yourself with your lefty.”

“Huh?” She looked down and saw that she had reflexively put her left foot out to catch herself.

"That means you ride regular, with your left foot in the front. You been trying to do it goofy!”

“Oh. Oh okay, so I’m a righty is what you’re saying?”

“Basically, yeah. Get back on the board, switch your feet this time.”

Riina stepped onto the board. Immediately there was a difference in her confidence, she felt more stable and firmer in her stance.

Rina noticed too. “Hella, ‘kay try moving around a little. Move back and forth, side to side, even try taking your right foot off to push.”

She leaned forward, feeling the deck tilt and the joints in the trucks strain a little as she approached their limit. She did the same leaning backward now, putting more effort into not falling on her butt again. She then leaned towards the tail of the board, her right, and panicked a little as the front wheels began to lift off of the grass.

“Don’t worry, your board isn’t going anywhere in the grass. Try leaning until the tippy-tail is touching the ground.”

Riina did as such and the board stayed under her feet. She did the same on the nose side, her left. It was noticeably more difficult to keep her balance with her non-dominant foot. Finally, she put the board down and took her right foot off and placed her toes on the ground, slowly and carefully.

“Dun dundun dun! You completed your first challenge. You have been promoted to Junior Skate Squirt.”

“I don’t know, I feel kind of silly. I didn’t even go anywhere.”

“But now, the basics you know, young padawan.”

“Can we go back into the park now?”

“Ya, sure.”

“Can I take the helmet off?”

“Nope.”

* * *

 

She was back in the flat area. It was getting late in the day, the sun would be setting soon, and she hadn’t actually ridden an inch on her board. Yui had gotten out of the bowl and was back to relaxing by the staircase with a Mountain Dew. Rin took her place and seemed determined to get some pretty serious air. This girl was like a skating machine. She was glad that Mirei and Asuka, now practicing their ollies and kickflips, seemed considerably less experienced.

“Rina? When am I going to be able to use a ramp?”

“Hm... probably not this week, we still need to beef up your basics. This is still like square 0.5.”

“But you can’t do anything cool on just boring, flat ground. I wanna catch air like the Birdman! Or just do like, one kickflip!”

Rina crossed her arms and raised her eyebrows. “Can’t do anything cool on flat ground, eh? Watch this.”

Rina stepped onto the board. She didn’t do anything for about 30 seconds, simply testing the tension in the trucks and the flexibility of the deck. Then like it was nothing at all, she did a kickflip, then a heelflip, and then spun the board under her, a shove-it. She flipped the board again, so it was now upside-down, balancing on the tail as she used her legs to keep it from falling over.

She looked down at the design on the bottom of Riina’s deck. “Ooh, a Les Paul. Cool!”

She flipped the board back onto its wheels, and then so it was sitting on its side, then started moving the two ends forward like she was stiffly walking away from Riina. She turned around and let all four wheels touch the ground again and bent down and rose up into a perfect handstand, stopping perfectly in front of Riina and exiting the handstand.

Riina stood frozen in place, totally speechless. Now right side up, Rina was breathing a little heavier but had barely broken a sweat doing all that.

“That’s why we learn our basics.”

* * *

 

Rina began the next part of her lesson, “Now let’s put that stuff you did on the grass into practice. Put that baby on the ground and plant your feet on top.”

She was standing on the board, and when she wasn’t moving, it was remarkable how similar it was to the grass. She leaned the same way she did there.

“Careful getting up on two wheels there, pal. If you lean too far, your board’s gonna leave you high and dry.”

Riina put care into making sure her weight was evenly distributed, her tailbone still hurt from that first fall.

“Now bounce a little! Little baby jumps, your board will flex a little with you!”

Riina bounced the tiniest amount with her toes, then a little bit harder. The wood was surprisingly flexible, even if it did groan a little with each jump.

“It feels good. I feel like I have more of a handle on it now!”

“Yayyyyyyyyyyyy! Okay, now let’s get to the _real_ stuff. Take your back foot off and push off the ground. I wanna see those wheels spinning!”

Riina took her right foot off, and turned her left slightly so that she was facing forward, and pushed. She was moving now, but pretty slow. She pushed harder this time, maybe too hard. Oh _no_ , she was going pretty fast now. She was headed for the outer wall. She was freezing, she didn’t know what to do.

“Riina, Lean back! You can turn away from the wall!” She leaned back, not too far, just like when she was on the grass and her board gently turned left to avoid the wall.

Now she was moving into another area of the park, it looked like a pool that had been cut in half, all curvy and near vertical. The ground also transitioned from nearly flat to sloped, and she was picking up speed.

Rina was far enough away that she needed to yell to be heard over the music and Riina’s own wheels.

“Stop! Drag your right foot on the ground!” Riina took her foot off, but every time it touched pavement, the friction made her feel like she was going to fall off again. She was losing control of her board and going scary fast. She was right in front of the ramp when she heard Rina shout, “Bail!”

One foot hit the ground before her momentum continued her forward as she twisted to not fall head first. She hit the concrete, back, then shoulder, then helmet with a loud _crack._

“Ow...”

When she opened her eyes Rin was crouched over her, feeling up and down her arms. She saw Rina round the corner into the pool, her eyes wide.

Rin had now moved over to her shoulders, and Riina heard her speak for the first time that day. “Tell me if anything hurts.” Riina had expected her voice to match her appearance, hard and confident. Instead, it was soft and also unsure somehow, like she was uncomfortable with the words that came out.

“What are you doing?” Rin was still poking and prodding at now somewhat sore areas.

“Checking for broken bones. You took a hard fall.”

“I’m alright, really. Can you just, uh, help me up?” Rin stood up and extended her hand. Riina took it and slowly stood up, against the wishes of her aching knees.

Rina now walked up, slowly. “You okay? That looked pretty rough...”

“Um, other than a few bruises and scrapes, I think I’m good.”

“Sorry ‘bout that, I guess I didn’t really think the whole training thing all the way through.” She gave a sheepish laugh.

“It’s okay Rina, I think I learned how to fall. So that counts for something, I guess.”

Rina looked up at her helmet, still being worn by Riina. “And to wear a helmet.”

“Huh?” Riina unbuckled the helmet and took it off.

“Oh.” There was a sizable crack just about where she had hit it on the concrete.

“Hey Rina? I think I’ve learned enough today.”

Right then, Mirei appeared on the upper lip of the pool. “If it’s all good with you girls, Asuka and I are going to get going.”

Rina answered, “I think we were about to head out too.”

Riina and Rin nodded in agreement.

* * *

 

The only one that didn’t live far enough to walk home from the skatepark was Rina, but she came with the group as they made their way home before sunset.

“Wait, so you’re saying Riina totally ate dirt and we missed it!? After all the times we ate it when we were the new kids, we miss the new new kid’s first major bail!?”

Even though she was still aching, Riina was able to laugh about it. “I don’t know what you two were so occupied with that you missed both me and Rina shouting.”

Asuka quipped, “It takes a lot to pull a pair of teens away from their Pokemon.”

That got a laugh from everyone, Riina even saw Rin stifle a giggle.

“I was over talking with Shin and I swear if she saw blood come out of you, she was ready to stuff it back in to avoid more paperwork.”

“How come Shin only talks to you, Yui? I’m the oldest and she still treats me like a little munchkin.”

“Maybe it’s a blonde thing?”

“I _am_ blonde!”

“Not naturally.”

“Like you _or_ she’ve ever seen me _au naturale._ ”

“I’m telling you, we have a sixth sense for these things.”

“Whatever dude,” Rina said, exasperated.

They had arrived at the first breakpoint. They all said goodbye to Yui as she skipped into her upscale neighborhood surrounded by high shrubs.

Mirei started the conversation up again, “So, other than almost going to the hospital, how was your first day?”

“Well, it was pretty fun. The drill instructor here had me doing a bunch of weird testy things so I could actually get on my board without launching it. It felt pretty silly... but I do think it actually worked.”

“Yeah, I remember doing that. It wasn’t with Rina, but I felt dumb just kind of standing on a patch of carpet with a piece of wood under my feet. And you know, just sorta, pretending to skate.”

“Mirei and I both tried when we were like, 11 about? But we never really rode until I happened to meet Rina a few months ago.”

Rina looked embarrassed when Asuka mentioned their meeting. “Aha yeah, can you believe a freshy was tutoring me in math? Pretty lame, but I made some new friends so it all worked out, y’know?”

Before there was time for a pause, she changed the subject. “So Riina—huh wow this is going to be confusing with Rina, Riina, and Rin all together isn’t it. Anyway, do you want to keep coming back to the park, then?

“Sure, when do you guys meet up?”

“Pretty much most days after school until like sunset-ish. And the occasional Saturday, if I’m not on a ride with Takumin n’ the gang.”

“Yeah, I think that would be pretty rock.”

“Oh my _God_ , you are adorable Rina 2, Rina Jr., Super Rina 64. I gotta work on this whole name confusions thing, but this is where the babies and I jump off!”

“Oh, you three go that way? Alright, see you tomorrow then!”

As Rina’s scooter puttered away, she could clearly be heard yelling “Wooh! Rina The Sequel is part of the crew! Stay out of trouble! Don’t do drugs!”

* * *

 

That left just her and Rin. In the group, Rin didn’t seem very talkative, and it was more pronounced one-on-one.

They continued down the side street in a slightly awkward silence. Rin’s loose hair blowing in the cool breeze, occasionally revealing her pierced ears underneath. They were getting further into the suburban tracks.

Riina was observing the way the sunset cut through the trees when Rin said, “I’m going this way.”

Riina almost jumped “Oh, okay! It was, uh, nice meeting you!”

“Yeah, nice meeting you. You’re... ‘pretty rock’ too.”

Without another word, Rin turned around and walked away. Riina watched her go until she rounded a corner and was out of sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The sweet tricks Rina does are all real flatland tricks, which I took from videos of Rodney Mullen (though his are much harder).


	2. Short Skirt/Long Jacket

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tailside - grinding with the tail of the board on a rail or lip  
> 50-50 - grinding with both sets of trucks on the rail or lip  
> SKATE - basically the basketball game HORSE but with skateboard tricks. If you don't copy the first person, you get a letter  
> Grip tape - the black sandpaper stuff on the top of a skateboard

The next day, Riina walked into history just like any other day. This time though, she noticed a girl a couple rows in front of her practically glowing and with a smile threatening to escape her face.

“Hey Riina!”

“Yui? You’re in my history class?”

“Crazy right? How’d we not recognize each other? _Actually_ scratch that, it’s because I don’t really pay attention.”

“Yeah, I kinda just zone in on the board...”

“This is so cool! You think the teacher will notice if I move next to you?”

Riina looked at Yui—her hair, her outfit, her demeanor—closely. Today, it was a leopard print jacket and some bright blue bell bottoms. There was no way their teacher could miss her.

“...you probably better stay.”

“Pshaw, it’ll be fi-” She was interrupted as the bell rang and their teacher walked in. Yui gave her a wink before turning around in her seat.

* * *

 

“Riina.”

_While United States involvement in World War I was limited, it did set the stage for future conflicts like World War II and the Cold W—_

“ _Riina._ ”

 _...the Cold War. The US joined in 1917, after the German attack on the ship_ Lusitania  _and the Zimmer_ _—_

Something rubbery hit her in the head. She looked up to see Yui sitting backward in her seat, silently waving to get her attention.

She whispered, “What?”

Yui—loudly—whispered back, “Look at this!”

There was no way the teacher couldn’t hear her. The rest of the class was totally quiet, working on the assignment they had been given.

Yui turned back around in her seat and revealed a tiny skateboard, smaller than her hand. She started “riding” it around with two fingers, doing short little manuals. Then, tailsliding around the edge of her desk and transitioning into a 50-50 grind. She reset her fingers on the board and, incredibly, does a kickflip over her pencil. She flashes a grin over her shoulder.

“Ohtsuki!”

“Huh?” Yui drops the board the middle of a pop shove-it when the teacher calls her name.

“Are you bored?”

“Uh… yes? Wait, no.”

“Then would you care to explain to me about how the United States entered the first world war?”

“Right. Uh well, there was this boat. The… Castlevania. And it got shot by the German guys in like nineteen... twenty... something.”

“...And?”

“And… the Zipper…” Yui’s usual confidence had disappeared and she was sitting ramrod straight in her chair.

“Okay Teach, to be honest I didn’t get that far. But I’ll be good for the test, I swear.”

“You always are.” She gave Yui an exasperated look. “But please stop playing with your skateboard.”

“Aight.”

Riina looked back to Yui with an eyebrow quirked. She just gave a sheepish grin before turning back to her book and picking up a pencil.

She noticed the eraser that had hit her lying on the carpet.

* * *

 

Riina popped her board up, confidently catching the nose in her hand.

“How was that? I’m feeling pretty confident now. No more falling down, not even going over the pyramid!”

Rina looked impressed. “Super good, girl! Bet you could ride around with your eyes closed. You even did a little baby manual!”

“I think I’m ready to move on to the next level. I want to get airborne.”

“Oh you want to take on the pipe again? Didn’t think you’d be so willing after _the incident_.”

Riina’s hands shot up. “N-Not that airborne! Just a little bit, like an ollie.”

“I got you. I actually think you’re about ready to work with Asuka and Mirei. They’re a little bit ahead of you since they started in Autumn and all, but they’ll be able to give you all the hot tipz.”

“Oh, yeah?” She was a little bit nervous leaving Rina, she was still the one she knew best by quite a bit. She was comfortable around the others, but it’s different going one-on-one with two people you’ve known for barely over a week.

Rina roughly patted her back. “You’ll be fine, they're good girls. Wouldn’t hurt a fly. Well maybe Mirei would, but only if you did something to Asuka, haha!”

“Eheh, yeah…”

Rina looked over towards the lip where Asuka and Mirei were playing SKATE, “Hey, can Riina join you guys? Maybe you can teach her some tricks?”

Mirei was the one to reply, as she was most of the time. “Sure! Let us finish this game, I still got a chance to take it!”

“‘Kay!”

“You sure it has to be them? Why can’t you show me?”

“Riina, honey, you gotta get out there! Can’t spend every day with me. What if I’m not here?”

Riina let her head down. “Yeah, I guess… everyone here is pretty nice anyway.”

By the time she looked back up Rina was already riding towards the staircase. “Okay cool, ‘cuz I’ve been dying to get some rail action all week! Laters!”

Riina swallowed and slowly walked up to the freshmen, just in time to see Mirei stumbling off her board.

“Ah, crap!”

“I win,“ Asuka said plainly, with a barely visible smirk.

“Jeez, how do you kickflip into a nose manual like that? It’s hard! And I keep falling forward.”

“You just have to be pretty precise with your landing. Jump high so have time on your descent to get your center right.”

“Makes it sound easy when you put it like that.”

“It’s not easy, just takes a bit of practice.” She faced Riina now. “So Rina wanted us to give you tips on doing tricks?”

“Yeah. I’ve pretty much got riding down. I feel pretty stable doing all the basic stuff, so I want to try ollies and flips and that stuff. She said you guys would be good for that.”

“You got it girlfriend! We only learned that stuff, like, a few months ago too.” Mirei stepped onto her board, facing Riina. “Ready up.”

Riina got on. Asuka watched them both from the side.

“So ollieing is weird. You’re basically jumping and taking your board with you, but you can’t just, you know, _jump_. There’s a trick to it.”

Mirei moved her back foot from the screws to the tail. “Put your foot here, pretty close to the end so you get a decent amount of leverage.”

“Right.” Riina followed.

“Now this is gonna sound weird but just. _Slam_ that sunova and lift your front foot up so your knees are near your chest.” She quickly stomped on the tail and lifted her other foot. Her board launched into the air and came back down without coming out from under her feet.

Riina brought her foot down as hard she could. She felt the board lift up and leave the ground, but then drift outwards. She landed and it had gone sailing behind her, landing upside-down.

When she came back with her board, Asuka piped up. “Mirei forgot to mention the most important part.”

“Oops.”

“When you’re at the apex of your jump, you have to 'catch' it in the air or it’ll go sailing away from you. Not much use to you over there.”

“Yeah, makes sense. I could kind feel myself kind of losing control of it up there.” Unlike when she was first learning to ride around, she felt aware of her board, like it was an extension of herself.

“I’m gonna try again.”

* * *

 

She went the whole day without making any progress. Getting off the ground wasn't really the problem, but she could never regain control before she came back down. She just couldn't get her front foot to make the right motions. Mirei and Asuka were encouraging, but there was just a disconnect between them and Riina. Everything goes so fast, no one could tell what exactly the problem was.

The three of them sat in the shade, all sweaty from going almost two hours uninterrupted. Mirei pulled a bottle of water from her backpack and tossed it at Asuka. She grabbed another and motioned towards Riina.

“Catch.”

“Ah, thanks. Did you bring one for yourself?”

“I’m good. You two have been working harder. Asuka’s got her big jacket on too.”

“You don’t look this good without paying a price.”

“You know, it’s possible to wear shorts and still kill it.”

“It’s also possible to not like ska and kill it too.”

Mirei laughed and playfully elbowed Asuka in the ribs. “Screw you. I know of _at least_ one ska song you like!”

It was Asuka’s turn to laugh now. “Just because it has a trumpet in it, doesn’t automatically make it ska! And who wouldn’t want a girl with eyes that burn like cigarettes?”

Riina looked closely at Asuka's eyes. Really looked. They didn't glow red-orange like the tip of a cigarette, but there was a certain smoldering quality to them. They had a quiet fierceness to them... A question entered Riina’s mind, one she had trouble ignoring. One that made her feel ridiculous for asking, but also for not knowing the answer.

_Were… were they…_

“Are… are you two… like, together?”

The three of them, including Riina herself, were thrown off by her question. Mirei looked surprised and Asuka slightly bemused.

“Not that there’s anything wrong with that! You know, love is love and my parents are pretty progressive you actually see it a lot in rock music and Rina has a girlfriend oh God, this is way too personal isn’t it you don’t have to tell me if you don’t want actually I take it back. Just forget I brought it up nevermind I’m sorry I should—” She started to get up and leave.

“Hey chill, it’s cool!” Mirei had her palms up trying to relax the increasingly flustered Riina.

“I guess I can see why you might think that,“ Asuka offered, “but nah we’re not, like, together. We just spend a lot of time with each other. We used to be neighbors, so we’ve been friends for a long time.”

Riina huddled into a ball. “I’m so embarrassed.”

“It’s good! I mean, you weren’t totally off the mark. I don’t go around yapping to everybody like a certain blondie I know, but I like girls.”

“Oh... Cool?”

“...Thanks?”

Asuka sighed and looked away. “I’m still working it out.”

Riina deflated a bit and looked toward the same vague point. “Yeah, I guess I’m working it out too. It’s hard.”

“Yup.”

“Mm-hmm.”

* * *

 

The sun was finally disappearing behind the hills as they made their way home. Rin and Rina had spent almost the whole day trying to one-up each other on the rail, while Yui sat at the bottom of the bowl cramming for their upcoming history test.

“Yo Riina, can I get your number? I got a lotta questions about the test tomorrow. Like, who was… Archduke Ferdinand?”

“Sure, give me a pen and I can write it down for you. Though, I’m not sure if my parents will be happy if you have to call me about every question.”

“Oh, just plug it into my cell!” Yui pulled from the front pocket of her backpack, a fat gray rectangle with a huge screen taking up the whole front.

“No way! But uh, where are the buttons?”

“Check it.” She flicked the edge of the screen and it slid up and flipped 180 degrees, revealing a full computer-style keyboard. The words "T-Mobile Sidekick" were prominently displayed on the monochrome screen.

All eyes were on the miraculous display. “Yooooooooooo Yui! Girl that is some _crazy_ tech, where’d ya get that?”

“Daddy bought it for me, pretty wicked huh?”

Riina asked the others, “Do any of you have cell phones?”

Rin, Asuka, and Mirei all shook their heads.

Rina answered, “Too rich for my blood.”

“I don’t have one either, my parents said there’s no reason to have one if I’m unemployed.”

Yui almost looked offended. “Who am I supposed to text then? How are you guys gonna talk to me when your mom’s busy buying books on the internet?”

“Pretty much like we’ve always done it,” Riina said flatly.

“Asuka didn’t even have internet until she moved to her new place,” Mirei chimed in.

“God, you are all so stuck in the twentieth century. Do you even have AIM?”

“Uh, what’s AIM?” Rina looked puzzled.

Mirei’s eyes brightened. “AOL Instant Messenger! It’s like email, but it’s super fast! And you can have multiple people in a conversation! I use it all the time for roleplaying and talking with my internet friends.”

“I know Natsukichi uses it, do you not have an account?”

“Hey, I didn’t even have a computer until I started using Takumin’s! We can’t all be anime techno-nerds.”

Yui hopped to the front of the pack and turned around, walking backward. “I’m declaring, as the second-oldest person here, that Rin and Rina need to get with the times and go download it so I can always pester y’all. Everybody give me your usernames, I’m writing all this down.”

“My username is neverknowsbest, all lowercase and Asuka is SkycladObserver with a capital O.”

“Fancy titles, any significance to these incredible ‘user-names’?” Rina inserted a noticeable pause in between the last two syllables.

“Mirei’s is from an anime, don’t bother asking to borrow it.” There was a hint of bitterness is Asuka’s voice.

“I told you, it’s harder to copy DVDs and I don’t even have subtitles yet!”

She rolled her eyes. “Mine is a character I play as, the Skyclad Observer. I won’t bore you with the lore.”

“Okey-dokey, Riina-Riina what about you?”

“Uh… Sp4rklingGirl, with a four instead of an A.”

“And who might be this effervescent woman?”

“It’s not anyone! It's a song I wrote when I was like 12!”

“I’ll let it slide for now, but be warned I _will_ make you sing someday.”

“Stop harassing my baby, Yui. We all got embarrassin’ stuff. I know for a fact you cut a picture of Mika Jougasaki out of a magazine and stuck it to your wall.”

Yui mimed offense. “We made a pact, Rina!”

While Yui and Rina were bickering, Rin had quietly re-entered the group.

“ShibuyaK.”

“Huh?”

“My username is ShibuyaK. The letter, K.”

“Oh, got it. You know, I just kinda assumed you wouldn’t have one. What was the occasion? Do you also do sexy roleplay?”

“Why does everyone always assume it’s sexy!? I’m just a 14-year-old girl!”

“That’s exactly why, sweetie.”

“There’s someone I talk to. She lives far away, though,” Rin interjected.

Yui and Rina both squinted at her for a long few seconds. Rina put her hand on her chin but then removed it. “I _need_ deets. You can’t hide from me.”

“Whoops, this is my stop, gals!” Yui turned into her neighborhood, walking backward and waving goodbye.

“Bye!”

Laters!”

The rest of the walk home went without event. Rina poked and prodded Rin to try and get more information out, but she wouldn't budge. Mirei gave anime recommendations to Asuka and a slightly unwilling Riina. She promised to bring some of her tapes to school tomorrow and they could pick ones they liked.

When it was just Rin and Riina again, she wasn’t sure whether to ask about ollies or her distant cyberspace friend. Before she could make up her mind, Rin turned to leave.

“Ah, bye Rin!”

“See you tomorrow.”

* * *

 

After school, Asuka came up to her while they were waiting for Rin to join them. It was a rare moment where Mirei was not with her.

“Hey Riina, I wanted to try something today. You were having trouble landing ollies, right?”

“Yeah, my board always gets away from me. It’s pretty weird to try and catch it with my foot.”

“Last night, I was thinking about it and after trying a handful of things, I realized it might be easier for you to try a shove-it first.”

“For real? I feel like doing a trick before just jumping might be kind of backward…”

“You’d believe that, right? Actually, the plain shove-it was actually created before the flatland ollie. But I’ll show you what I mean when we get to the park, I think it will help you nail the landing.”

Yui was waving at them. “Rin’s here!”

* * *

 

"So you just kinda... hook it,” she paused so Riina could see her toes pushing the edge of the tail, “and kick it. Straight back."

“Like this?” Riina was trying to mirror Asuka as close as she could. Right foot on the tail, toes over the edge. Front foot on the screws angled slightly towards the nose.”

“Yeah, like that. Now after you kick it you’re gonna hop—just a little so you don’t hit your own feet—and land front foot first. Like so:”

Asuka kicked the board back, hopped, and her board rotated 180 degrees underneath her. She landed in the same position as she started.

“The tricky part is getting the right speed for the rotation. Just kick it for now and we’ll see where it goes.”

“Okay. Got it.”

She stared down at her feet. _Hook… and kick_. She adjusted her feet one more time before bending her knees. She put her wheels in a small crack to prevent herself from rolling away while she’s trying to concentrate.

She hooked her toes over the edge,

and kicked.

“Hmm, a little weak.”

Her feet landed on the concrete. Her board barely did a quarter turn.

“This time, try kicking it harder. Like way harder, I want you to overdo it if you can.”

Riina looked back down at her board, now in the same position as before. She bent her knees. The wheels were already slotted into the crack in the cement.

She hooked her toes over the tail and imagine the muscles in her legs winding, preparing for a sudden, explosive release. She kicked again.

She heard the wheels scrape against the ground. _That’s not supposed to happen_. Where she expected either the ground or her board, she instead felt the thin edge of her board.

She heard Asuka, “Uh oh.”

She lost her balance and fell forward onto the ground, scraping her palms on the rough concrete, but managing not to hit her face.

Yui shouted from the other side of the park, "Wipeout!"

“You okay? You kicked down.”

“I’m fine,” she examined her flushed hands, “Wait, what?”

“You kicked down. You’re supposed to kick back to get the right spin. If you kick down, your wheels catch and the board just flips over.”

“I thought you said this was supposed to be easier? I feel like I might be better off just trying to ollie again.”

“It is easier. Though not really _easy_ , I guess. I mean, it took over a decade for people to come up with this stuff.”

“What? No way Skateboarding hasn't always been this rad! What did they even do before? Where’d you hear that?”

“Internet. But just give it one more try, try to find somewhere between your first two. Kick it hard, but with control.”

“Ugh, fine.” She mounts the board again and resets her feet. Knees bent. Wheels slotted.

Hook.

Kick.

And then she felt something unexpected under her. _Grip tape_. Her eyes widened. She almost didn’t believe it.

“Nice! You landed it.”

Riina kept looking down, her board was slightly askew, but she’d totally landed it.

She tried it again.

And landed it again. Her front foot barely left the deck, setting right back into place when it had finished its half spin.

“Yes!” She raised her hand for a high-five. Asuka, caught a little off guard, clumsily pulled a hand out of her hoodie to answer the call.

* * *

 

neverknowsbest has joined

poyogal69 has joined

neverknowsbest has set the topic to: FINALLY

**neverknowsbest** : TOOK YOU LONG ENOUGH

 **poyogal69** : This is hard! I don’t get computers and neither does Takumin!

 **Poyogal69** : but now I’m here, JEEZUS

Sp4rklingGirl has joined

**Sp4rklingGirl** : Yay Rina’s here!

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : What’s your username? Poyo? 69?

RadioHappy has joined

**RadioHappy** : its wHEN

 **neverknowsbest** : don’t or I’m banning you!

SkycladObserver has joined

**Sp4rklingGirl** : When what?

 **neverknowsbest** : It’s when

 **neverknowsbest** : when you’re born between June 20 and July 22. Cancer. Yeah.

 **poyogal69** : No itfsjkjdljhsk. Yes tHat’s what RinA meant and if anyone says otherwise Takumi is going to find you so

 **neverknowsbest** : Poyo is the sound Kirby makes! I lent Rina my Nintendo and she seemed to like him.

 **poyogal69** : He’s such a cutie! I saw him on TV too! Right back at ya, right Takumin?

 **poyogal69** : whoops she's already gone

 **SkycladObserver** : Congrats again on the shove-its today, Riina.

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : Thanks again Asuka! You’re a really good teacher. I’m going to keep trying at that ollie now that I kind of get how tricking works.

 **poyogal69** : Yeehaw go Riina! You're already getting so good. Gonna pass me up soon.

 **RadioHappy** : Yeah go Riina-Riina!

ShibuyaK has joined

**ShibuyaK** : Congrats. I bet you’ll “rock” those ollies soon.

 **RadioHappy** : rock those ollies OMG

 **RadioHappy** : rin!!! jesus! that’s adorable!!!!!!!

ShibuyaK left

**RadioHappy** : wait!

 **neverknowsbest** : Come back Rin! I’ll ban Yui if you want!

ShibuyaK has joined

**ShibuyaK** : I’m talking to someone else right now. Good job, Riina. Bye!

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : Bye!

ShibuyaK left

**poyogal69** : God I NEED to know who this mystery Canadian girlfriend is

 **SkycladObserver** : Is she Canadian?

 **neverknowsbest** : Are they a girl?

 **poyogal69** : I dunno

 **poyogal69** : Riina, girl that’s your job from now on. Keep me posted.

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : What?

 **poyogal69** : You heard me. Secret mission, Agent Zipper Lips. But this is an insecure channel.

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : [audible sigh] I guess…

 **RadioHappy** : You typed out [audible sigh]?

 **neverknowsbest** : It’s called roleplaying, Yui. You’re so stuck in the 20th century…

 **SkycladObserver** : Hey, is it alright if I bring my camera on Monday? It’s my day for music and I’ve been in the mood to get some good footage.

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : You have a camera? Cool!

 **SkycladObserver** : It was my dad’s, but he doesn’t use it anymore so I got it. I have a couple of tapes of us all skating already. Don’t really have a way to edit them, but I don’t mind that much.

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : That’s incredible!

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : Can I be in it?

 **SkycladObserver** : Sure, I was just planning on going around and just getting footage us hanging out.

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : So coollllllllllllll! Wait, that only gives me

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : less than a week to get ready. What should I do? I mean I at least need to ollie right?

 **neverknowsbest** : How about we train together for the rest of the week? We’ll get that ollie down. Maybe even a flip!

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : Oh my gosh yeah that would be so cool! Is that okay?

 **neverknowsbest** : Heck yeah! [High five]

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : [High five]

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : Also what was that thing about music?

 **neverknowsbest** : We have like a loose schedule for control over the shop’s boombox.

 **SkycladObserver** : We have a schedule, but right now no one’s really been following it with you coming now and all that.

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : That’s crazy cool! Can I join?

 **neverknowsbest** : Sure, just make a mix CD, and bring it! We’ll slot you in. Just, try not to make it too trash. Or put it on a cassette tape like someone.

 **SkycladObserver** : I don’t know what your grudge is against mixtapes. I’m an analog girl.

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : I’ll get a CD from my parents and start working on something really rock!

 **Sp4rklingGirl** : Uh oh, mom says I have to get off the computer. Goodnight everyone!

 **neverknowsbest** : Goodnight!

 **RadioHappy** : ‘night

 **poyogal69** : Adios!

 **SkycladObserver** : Goodnight

Sp4rklingGirl has left

* * *

 

_[Click]_

_“Okay, we’re recording.”_

_From blackness we see a cement gray, washed out collection of ramps, just barely enough to be called a skatepark. The camera whips around to an orange-haired girl in all black. A song with heavy guitars can be heard in the background as well as the sound of skateboard wheels on the ground._

_Asuka: It’s February… 25th, 2002. We’re at the park again after school._

_The camera turns back around. A purple-haired girl with an eyepatch gives a wave and a big toothy grin._

_“Hi!”_

_“There’s Mirei.”_

_“And over here is,” the view rotates again to reveal two blonde teens and a tall one with dark hair waiting at the top of a staircase, “Rin, Rina, and Yui. Riina says she’s finally got her first line down, so we’re waiting for her to give us the go-ahead.”_

_Mirei is heard to the left, “You ready, Miss Female Lead?”_

_Another, more faint voice responds, “Almost, give me a few more minutes! For real!”_

_Asuka’s voice comes from behind the camera, “I only have so much film. Tell me when you’re absolutely ready next time!”_

_“Okay, a couple more minutes I swear!”_

_[Click]_

* * *

 

_[Click]_

_We’re back in the skatepark. Riina stands at the top of a concrete mound in the corner of the park._

_Asuka’s voice comes again, “Ready?”_

_“I think so!”_

_Asuka gives her a thumbs up from just out of view._

_Riina gets a short running start and hops onto her board. She’s down the ramp with a heretofore unseen steadiness. She pushes off once in the straightaway before she comes to the pyramid. She hits the pyramid with her knees bent, ready to kick. She’s biting her tongue._

_Over the top of the pyramid, she executes a high ollie, landing a little wobbly. However, it’s clear by the smile threatening to cover her face that she was unsure she could do it all. The girls by the steps are heard cheering. Asuka and Mirei also give their own small whoops._

_Riina isn’t quite finished yet as she makes her way over a second, higher ramp. She just barely has enough speed to make it up, where she then kickflips over the corner and lands cleanly. Her hands triumphantly shoot into the air.  She looks like she can barely contain herself. She rolls over the bottom of the steps and pops the board up into her waiting hand._

_Everybody erupts into cheering. The camera shakes wildly as Asuka runs from her perch over to Riina. Wind is whipping the camera's microphone. Rina can be seen sliding down the railing and practically tackling her protege._

_[Indecipherable cheering, shouting]_

_[Click]_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Heyo! This is a series now! Here's a nifty tutorial on [doing a shove-it](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Oq9Y3i7HD40)


End file.
